This invention relates in general to cable connectors and in particular to and useful method and apparatus for connecting double-wire dropwire cables.
A cable connecting element is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,615, and it is provided with several connecting elements for contacting a multi-wire flat cable. The individual wires of the flat cable being arranged side by side have a common insulation surrounding the electricity conductive wires. The two ends of the incoming and outgoing flat cables to be connected are placed in the lower part of the cable connecting element. Contact is performed by the multitude of connecting elements arranged side by side in the upper part of the cable connecting element. The connecting elements are provided with cutting and clamping contacts which penetrates with cutting and clamping contacts each from above the insulation of the flat cable and effect electrical contact between the respective wires of the incoming and of the outgoing flat cables to be connected. For this, high press-in forces are required, in order to cut simultaneously the insulation of the multitude of wires of the two flat cables to be connected. Further, it is necessary that the spacing of the cutting and clamping contacts arranged side by side is accurately identical to the spacing of the wires of both flat cables. Another disadvantage is that the known cable connecting element cannot be used for dropwire cables. In particular double-wire dropwire cables, because dropwire cables have a particularly thick insulation, which normally cannot be penetrated by the cutting and clamping contacts. Thus it is necessary up to now to separate the two wires of a double-wire dropwire cable with the respective insulation from each other, in order to connect the two wires of the incoming double-wire dropwire cable with the two wires of the outgoing double-wire dropwire cable. Further there is the problem when connecting double-wire dropwire cables that the wires have no defined spacing to each other.